A Second Chance For Petunia
by RavenGhostWriter
Summary: Six year old Harry lives with a family who all seem to hate that he exists. How does a weekday trip to the store forever change how his aunt relates to him?


Note: Be warned, this contains the death of a character, not graphic, but a character dies. As per usual, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **A Second Chance For Petunia Dursley**

Life at 4 Privet Drive never changed. Vernon Dursley went to work, leaving his wife, Petunia, with their son Dudley, and their awful nephew, Harry Potter. Petunia and Vernon hated Harry, throwing him into the cupboard under the stairs whenever they were tired of seeing him.

Harry lay in his cupboard, freezing as he tried to cover himself with thin blankets. He heard footsteps stomping over to the door.

"Get up!" came his aunt's shrill voice. "We have to go to the store, and we don't have all day! Up!"

Harry quickly dressed, knowing that if he were too slow, Aunt Petunia would give him more chores. He and Dudley were the same age but Dudley never had to do chores. He shot out of the cupboard and raced into the kitchen to cook breakfast. His aunt glared at him but turned her attention back to Dudley. She even allowed Harry to eat some eggs and toast. A half hour later, he was in the back seat of the car with Dudley. Aunt Petunia told him he had to behave in the store and not draw attention to himself. At Harry's nod, she steered the car towards the store.

"Mummy, can we get cake?" Dudley asked.

"Of course sweetie," said Aunt Petunia as they pulled into the car park.

Dudley always sat in the trolley while Harry held onto the side, trying to stay out of Dudley's reach. Dudley was allowed to select crisps and biscuits while Aunt Petunia pulled Harry away from anything that he might be interested in.

As Dudley looked at the cake display, a woman wearing what looked like a dark dressing gown seemed to appear out of nowhere. She removed a stick from her pocket and sent a jet of green light towards Dudley. Dudley dropped out of the trolley when the light hit him. Harry realized his cousin was not moving. Petunia screamed and tried to rush to her son.

The mysterious woman smiled nastily. "The great Harry Potter. Your filthy muggle cousin is dead and your aunt will soon follow. What ever will you do once you are alone?"

Harry felt an odd, full, feeling right before a wave of light seemed to leave him and shove the crazy lady backwards. The woman's face lit up just before a series of cracks disrupted the chaotic noise of the store.

"Ah, so Harry Potter has magic! Pity you're too small to stop me!"

The woman cackled as she sent a streamer of another color at Petunia. Harry watched as the light knocked her to the ground but she was still moving. Just as two big men were making their way towards her, the dark woman pried open Petunia's mouth and forced her to swallow something that looked like pond scum. Petunia choked on the liquid as a burning sensation spread throughout her body. She began screaming, barely realizing Harry knelt in front of her, frantically begging her to be ok, as he sent another blast of energy towards the scary lady, knocking her out. The two big men finally pushed through the crowd of shocked muggles. One checked on Dudley, before sending the body away. He then moved on to the crazy lady, after binding her and taking her wand, he transported her to the Ministry. The other man worked frantically to save Petunia. Harry was scared. Two more people arrived, this time dressed in bright green dressing gowns. They attached Petunia to a stretcher and vanished. Harry freaked out.

"Where did my aunt go? Where did they take her? What happened to Dudley? Who are you? Don't touch me! Get away!" Harry stumbled over his words as he cried.

The big man remained quiet before suddenly grabbing Harry in a restraining hold. Harry felt like he was being squeezed through a very narrow space. The feeling ended seconds later, and he found himself in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by strange people all in dressing gowns and waving sticks. He shrunk backwards, crashing into the big man from the store. The man held him in place, allowing another person to force him to drink some sort of chalky liquid. Harry tried spitting it out but they forced him to swallow. Harry felt light then his world went dark.

The Auror sighed and carefully picked up the boy who was far too light for a six year old. He carried the boy to the room where his aunt was sleeping off the poison antidote.

"Professor Dumbledore," greeted the Auror, "I'm sorry for the delay, young Mr. Potter was quite worked up. I don't think he has any idea he is a wizard. Healer Tonks gave him a calming draught mixed with a mild sleeping potion. The poor kid exhausted his magic trying to defend his aunt. He should wake before his aunt."

"Thank you Auror Proudfoot," said Dumbledore, carefully covering Harry with a blanket as the Auror left the room.

Petunia woke with a sore throat. She looked around and saw a tall, grandfatherly man sitting on another bed with a crying Harry. Without thinking about it Petunia jumped out of bed and gathered Harry into her arms. For the first time, she wanted to comfort him. Harry looked bewildered. Petunia stared at the older man, trying to figure out who he was and where they were. After a moment, it clicked, Albus Dumbledore. He looked exactly like his Chocolate Frog card. Lily collected them during her first few years of school and Petunia often snuck into her room to look at them, without Lily's knowledge.

"Albus Dumbledore," she said. "What are you doing here? Where are we?"

"Petunia,' said Dumbledore gravely. "You were attacked and poisoned by a Death Eater and are currently in the wizarding hospital. With any luck, you will be perfectly fine. Unfortunately, your son was killed instantly. Aurors were alerted to the use of magic in a muggle area. They traced the source of the energy, found you, Harry, the Death Eater, and your son's body. You were transported here when it became clear that you'd been given a potion. Auror Proudfoot administered a bezoar which stopped the damage from the poison until the healers were able to give you the antidote."

"And Petunia, I understand you lied to Harry about his parents. I explained to him all that he needs to know, and I hope that you will take better care of him. If you don't, I will be watching, and I will take him away from you. Do you understand?"

Petunia nodded slowly. She knew her sweet Dudders was gone forever but perhaps she could have a second chance with Harry. She vowed to love him like a son.


End file.
